Album Review

A super chill, surprisingly reflective record, Life's Quest is an almost conceptual effort by rapper 8Ball, concentrating and concerned with the ups and down experienced in everyone and anyone's life, although still interrupted here and there by some straight-up baller music. The finest interruption comes first with 8Ball's usual cohort, MJG, joining on "We Buy Gold," which adds Big K.R.I.T. to the mix for a true pimp song that mentions Al Green, super models, and beaches in Rio. "Don't Bring Me Down," with the quirky and fun 2 Chainz, pops bottles nearly as hard, while the thudding bass in "Good Girl Bad Girl" will break in woofer's twice as fast as most dubstep tunes. That said, most everything here is coated in that buttery soul that makes 8Ball & MJG albums so smooth, plus the remaining highlights come from the well-done, slow side of the album. The best two act as bookends with the opening "Indestructible" a perfect theme for anyone who's been there and back again, but it's topped by the closing "Bad Days," where 112's Slim contributes to a borderline pop-rap track that's also sweet, two things one wouldn't normally associate with the man who once seemed like the Suave House label's most unforgiving enforcer. Still, that's true heart coming through the speakers, and if 8Ball always seemed more moonshine than fine wine, Life's Quest suggests he can still get better with age and go down smooth when you let him mellow.

Customer Reviews

jdubb

by
dubb seigal

All I gotta say is, as usual... 8ball and MJG never disapoint whether its an album together or a solo project.. Keep it goin my brotha's.. Puttin it down all these years and still comin wit it...

8BALL N MJG LOVER 4 LIFE!

by
Caramelma

8ball a true living legend never disappoints!

Great Album From The South

by
DeftlyProd

8ball isn't the best lyrical rapper, but he shines on this album by bringing emotion and real life experiances into his music. This album is great because it's a combination of lyricism (see Indestructible & You'll Never Know), straight bumpin party songs (see Don't Bring Me Down [feat. 2 Chainz] & Good Girl Bad Girl), and really chill songs that you just want to sit back and listen to (see We Buy Gold [feat. MJG & Big KRIT] & Touch). Overall from beginning to end 8ball proves the south can have musical variety in hip-hop which is becoming unseen in the mainstream. (But then again - this isn't mainstream)

Biography

Born: Memphis, TN

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

8Ball, half of the pioneering Southern rap duo 8Ball & MJG, branched out occasionally for solo albums, beginning with the double-disc Lost in 1998, and was an active collaborator, appearing as a featured guest on countless rap songs over the years. Born Premro Smith, 8Ball grew up in the Orange Mound area of Memphis, TN, where he met MJG at Ridgeway Junior High School in 1984. The two shared a passion for hip-hop, which hadn't yet made a strong impact in the South, and formed their own rap duo,...